Impeller-positioning device



June 14, 1932. J. A. wlNTROATH 1,863,215

IMPELLER-POSTIONING DEVCE Filed-June 21, 195o H TTOZNEY Patented .lune 14, 1932 PATENT OFFCE JOHN A. XTINTROATH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNA IMPELLER-POSTIONING DEVICE Application filed June 21, 1939.

My invention relates to the deep-well pumping art, and more particularly to a novel adjustment-indicating device for deepvwell pumps of the turbine type.

a Present-day turbine pumps comprise a pump unit positioned below or near the water level in a well and supported by a column pipe extending upward through the well and suspended from a pump unit at the surface of the ground. rlhis pump unit has incorporated therein a motor or other device which rotates a line shaft extending downward to the pump unit and rotates one or more impellers secured thereto in one or more in pelier chambers formed in the pump bowls comprising the pump unit.

Heietofore few turbine pumps have been installed at depths greater than one or two hundred feet due to line shaft trouble, and

i to the difficulty in properly positioning the impellers in the bowls. This latter limitation is a very serious one, for its desirable to suspend the line shaft from the bearing in the pump head in a manner to place a tension on this shaft, thus .necessitating the adjustment of the impellers from the pump head. Normally, these impellers engage the lower walls of their respective impeller chambers during installation, and the upper end of the "l pump shaft is subsequently raised until the shaft turns freely, thus indicating that the impellers have been raised from engagement with the bowls. Such procedure is entirely practical when a line shaft is suspended on a ball bearing, and when the installation depth is not too great. However, when other types of bearings are used, such as a Kingsbury bearing, for instance, and when the depth of installation requires a large number of line shaft bearings, such a procedure is of little value. Furthermore, even if the impellers were properly positioned, the stretch in the line shaft, due to the building up of the hydraulicV thrust on the impellers, often lowers these impellers into contact with the pump bowls. These factors are the primary reasons ordinary turbine pumps are not eX- tensively used in deeper installations.

It is an object of my invention to provide means for ascertainino` the )osition of one or D Y Serial No. 462,732.

more impellers relative to their respective impeller chambers, thus making it possible to utilize turbine pumps on deeper wells.

A further object of my invention is to provide an indicating means at the top of the well which indicates when a valve means is opened, this valve means being controlled by the position of the lower portion of the line shaft.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide an indicating device of simple construction and one which requires no eXtra pipes extending from the pump unit to the pump head.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pneumatic means, or fluid-pressure means, for indicating impeller positions at a remote point.

In the event that it is desired to ascertain the position of the impellers during pumping 70 operations, it is desirable to utilize for testing purposes the lubricating` medium ordinarily supplied to the lower bearing of the pump unit.

It is an object of this invention to provide avalve means controlling the flow of a lubricating medium througn a lower bearing of the pump unit, this valve means being preferably positioned so that the lubricating medium must pass therethrough before entering this bearing.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be evident to those skilled in the art from the following description.

Referring to the crawing,-

Fig. l is a utility view of a pump installation incorporating the features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a medial sectional view of the lower bearing of the pump unit. '3C

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l illustrates an alternative form of valve means.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, I have illustrated a well 10 having a casing ll set therein and extending downward to a point below the water level of the well. A pump head 13 is positioned above the well at the top of the ground, and supports column D pipe 14 which extends downward inside the casing 11 and forms a suspending means for a pump unit l5.

This pump unit is composed of one or more pump bowls 16 each of which provides an ini-- peller chamber 17 in which an impeller 18 is adapted to rotate. In Fig. 1 I have shown three bowls for the purpose of illustration, and have illustrated the three impellers 18 as being secured to a line shaft 20 extending upward to the pump head 13 and being driven by a motor 21. The line shaft 20 may be journalled at frequent intervals throughout its length by bearings mounted in a line shaft tubing 22.

The lower end of this line shaft is journalled in a lower .bearing structure 23, the details of which are best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Referring to these figures, this bearing structure comprises a cast body 24 secured to the lowermost pump bowl 16, as by bolts 25. A hub 28 forms a part of the body 24 and is positioned centrally therein by'means f of webs 29. A bore 30 is formed centrally through the hub 28 and retains a bearing sleeve 31 which journals a lower portion of the'shaft which `is shown as being of reduced diameter.

This portion of the shaft 20 is also Journalled in a bore 32 of a bearing member 33, this bearing member having a boss 34 which is threaded into a counterbore 35 of the hub 28. An opening 37 is formed through the lower end of the bearing member 33 in alignment with the bore 32, the opening 37 being smaller in diameter than the bore 32 so as to provide a shelf 39. The opening 37 is closed kby a plug 4() in a manner to provide a. presf sure chamber 41 communicating with radial passages 42 andlongitudinal passages 43 formed in the bearing member 33, the upper end of the longitudinal passages 43 terminating in an annular chamber 45 formed around the bearing member1 33 and communicating with a passage 47 formed through one of the webs 29. A pipe means in the form of an oil Vline 50 extends downward from the surface of the ground and communicates with the passage 47 in a manner to supply oil to the bearing surfaces in the lower bearing structure 23. This oil may be retained in an oil cup 51 connected to a nipple 52, the flow of oil being controlled by a valve 53 between the oil cup and the nipple. Also connected to the nipple 52 is an air line 54 running to an air pump 5K5, the flow of air through the air line 54 being controlled byV a valve 56j A pressure gauge 57 connects to the nipple 52 and indicates the pressure in the oil line 50.

Any pressure thuspbuilt up in the oil line 50 and inthe pressure chamber 41 tends Vto be released upward by an upward flow between the periphery of the shaft 20 and the bearing member 33 and bearing Ysleeve 31. In'my invention such an upward flow is controlled by a. Valve means 60, which controls the ow as a function of the position of the lower end of the line shaft 20.

The details of this valve means are best shown in Fig. 2, wherein is illustrated a seat member 61 resting on the ledge 39 and providing a seat 62 in which a valve member 63 may seat in a manner to close an opening of the seat member through which the pressure chamber 41 communicates withV the bearing member 33. In the preferred form of my invention the valve member 63 is formed of a steel ball which is normally held in engagement with the seat 62 by gravity and which is prevented from rising therefrom when engaged by the lower end of the line shaft 20, as indicated in Fig. 2. When the lower end of this line shaft rises, the pressure in the pressure chamber 41 raises the valve member a slight distance, thus allowing an escape of fluid upward through the journalling surfaces of the lower bearing structure 23. v

l have found it advisable to utilize a hardened insert 65-which is retained in the lower' end of the line shaft 2O for engagingy the valve member 63, this insert being positioned in a cavity 66 of the line shaft. Thus, the valve member 63 not only acts in conjunction with the seat member 61 to control the flow through the valve means 60, but also forms a thrust bearing which takes any downward thrust of the shaft 2O during installation of the turbine pump. Preferably, the pump` unit shaft engagement between the Vvalve member 63 and the line shaft 2O takes place when the impeller is raised a short distance above the lower walls of the impeller chamber 17.

In installing the pump, the impellers 18 areiin their lower positions the weight of the line shaft being carried on the valve member 63. After installation, the air pump 55 is started and the valve 56 opened, thus allowi ingV the pressure to build up in the oil line 50 and the pressure chamber 41. Due to the fact that the valve member 63 is closed because of the weight of the line shaft and impellers resting thereon, no escape of air takes place. The pressure in the oil line 50 and in the pressure chamber 41 may be read from the gauge 57. The valve 56 may be then closed, and the upper end of the line sha-ft 2O raised.V Such-a raising action may take place by any means lnown in the art, the means illustrated in Fig. 1 being a nut 67 threaded to the upper end of the line shaft 20. lVith such an embodiment, the operator rotates the nut 67 until the pressure indicated by the gauge 57 suddenly decreases, thus indicating that the impellers 18 have just started to move upward. The operator knows that the weight of the line shaft and impellers is supported by the pump Vhead 13, and he further rotates the nut 67 to raise theimpellers to their proper positions so that when the hydraulic thrust thereon builds up these impellers will not drag in the pump bowls. Before the pump is set into operation, the oil line and pressure chamber 41 are filled with lubricating medium from the oil cup 51. t should be understood that the position of the pump shaft 20 determines the amount of oil or air passing through the valve means 63. Thus, even after the pump is in operation, it is possible to determine the position of the impellers by noting the rate at which the oil level in the oil cup 51 lowers. If no oil flow takes place, the operator knows that the shaft is not properly7 adjusted and that the impellers are too lowr in the impeller chamber. He may thus shut down the motor 21, and raise the line shaft 2O by rotating the nut 67.

`While l have shown the valve member 63 'as being detached from the line shaft 2O in the preferred embodiment of the invention, such a construction is not necessary to the utility of my device. Thus, in F ig. 4 have illustrated a valve member 70 as being directly connected to the lower end of the line shaft 2O so that this valve member rises when the shaft rises without the necessity of a differential pressure on opposite sides of the seat member 61.

However, the construction illustrated in Fig. 2 finds a particular utility in the con struction shown, inasmuch as it prevents any water from entering the bearing surfaces. This desirable result is attained by extending Vthe bearing sleeve 81 upward into an opening 7 5 formed in a collar 76 which rotates with the impeller 18, and is retained on the shaft immediately below this impeller by a set screw 77. A very small space exists between the periphery of the bearing sleeve 31 and the inner walls of the opening 75 so that any oil rising through the bearing member 33 or bearing sleeve 31 must pass upward around the upper edge of the bearing sleeve and downward through this small space before being discharged into a stream of water passing adjacent an annular passage 78 formed between the hub 28 and the collar 76. Should the water pressure at this point build up, water would tend to iiow upward between the collar 76 and the bearing sleeve 31, thus tending to entrap the oil inside the collar. The valve member 63, being normally retained against the seat member 61, will not, however, allow a downward ow of lubricating medium and an entrance of water into the bearing surfaces is thus prevented even though the pressure in the pressure chamber 1 is less than that of the water adjacent the opening 7 8. This latter pressure is ordinarily not exceedingly high due to the high velocity of flow. There is thus usually no necessity l for pumping oil downward through the oil line 50 for lubricating the bearing, inasmuch as the head of the oil in this oil pipe is greater than the pressure head at the opening 78. If, however, this were not the case, it would be necessary to pump the oil down the oil line 50.

Vith either construction a flow indicating means in this line could be utilized for determining the position of the lower end of the line shaft 20, the iiow through the oil line being a function of this position, as previously outlined. As previously set forth, this iiow indicating means may include any means for determining when the valve means is opened, such, for instance, as the pressure gauge 57 in conjunction with a pressure source, or a level indicating means such as the oil cup 51. Quite obviously the upper end of the oil line 50 may itself serve as such an indicating means. In the appended claims the flow indicating means is thus limited to no single one of these possible structures, nor is it limited to a system in which a gas is used to develop pressure in the oil line 50, for any iiow of liquid or gas through the valve means 60 is indicative of this valve means being in an open position.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a deep-well turbine pump, the combination of: a pump unit; a line shaft eX- tending into said pump unit; an impeller secured to said shaft and positioned in an impeller chamber of said pump unit; means for axially moving said line shaft to change the position of said impeller relative to said impeller chamber; iiow means in said pump unit below the lower end of said line shaft andopcrating in response to changes in the vertical position of said line shaft; and indicating means cooperating with said flow means for determining when said impeller is properly positioned relative to said impcller chamber.

2. ln a turbine pump adapted to pump a well, the combination of: a pump head at the top of said well; a pump unit supported in said well; a line shaft extending uiwarr from said pump unit to said pump head; an impeller mounted on said line shaft and positioned in an impeller chamber of said pump unit; means at said pump head for axially moving said shaft; a seat member supported by said pump unit below said shaft and in alignment therewith; a valve member adapted to engage said seat member, said valvey member being en gageable by the lower end of said pump shaft when said shaft is in a lower position to prevent any flow through a valve means formed by said valve member and said seat member; pressure-transmitting means communicating with said valve means; and pressure-indicating means communicating with said pressure-transmitting means.

3. In a deep-well turbine pump, the combination of: a pump unit; a line shaft; an

impeller secured to said line shaft and posifor delivering a fluid to said lower bearing valve means at the lower end of said pump shaft and opening when the lower end of said shaft nieves upward for controlling the flow of said fluid from said pipe means to said llower bearing' and means for indicating 337 t? when said valve means is open.

4l. In a deep-well turbine pump, the combination of: a pump unit in a well; a shaft rotatable relative to said pump unit; walls forming a pressure chamber below said shaft; means for building up a pressure in said pressure chamber; a seat providing an opening communicating with said pressure chamber; a valve member held in pressural contact with said seat when the lower end of said shaft is in a lower position but which is adapted to raise from said valve seat when said lower end of said shaft moves upward; and means for indicating at the top of said well when said valve member is raised from said valve seat.

5. In a deep-well turbine pump, the combination of: a pump unit in a well; a shaft rotatable relative to said pump unit; walls forming a pressure chamber below said shaft means for building up a pressure in said pressure chamber; means at the top of said well for indicating` when the pressure in said pressure chamber drops; and valve means communicating with said pressure'chamber and controlled by the vertical position of the lower end of said shaft to relieve the pressure in said pressure chamber when said lower end of said shaft moves vertically beyond a predetermined point.

6. In a deep-well turbine pump, the combination of: a pump unit in a well; a shaft rotatable relative to said pump unit; a seat member extending across and below the lower end of said shaft and providing an opening therein; means for building up a pressure f iii said opening; a valve member engageable with said seat and held in engagement therewith by said shaft when in a lower position,

i an upward movement of the lower end of said shaft eecting a flow thro-ugh said opening; and means at the top of said well for indicating when said flow takes place whereby the position of said lower end of said shaft may be determined.

7. A combination as defined in claim l6 in which said valve member is in the form of a wall formed separate from and engageable by the lower end of'said shaft.

Leeaai fluid upward tothe top of said well, said shaft extending through said column pipe; adjusting means for drawing upward on the upper end of said shaft; a lower bearing in said pump unit and journalling said shaft; an oil line extending to the top of said well outside said column pipe and supplying oil to said lower bearing; valve means communicating between said o-il line and said lower bearing and preventing a flow into said bearing when the lower end of said shaft is in a lower position, but permitting flowl thereinto when said adjusting means is actuated to raise the lower` end of said shaft; and means at the top of said well and associated with said oil line for indicating when such a flow into said lower bearing takes place.

9. In a deep-well turbine pump, the combination of: a pump unit in a well; a shaft rotatable relative to said pump unit; a ball at the lower end of said shaft said ball supporting the weight of said shaft and acting as a bearing therefor; means cooperating with said ball in defining a valve structure through which iuid may flow when the lower end of said shaft is lifted; and means for indicating at the top of said well when such a flow takes place. v l

10. In a deep-well turbine pump, the, combination of: a pump unit in a well; a line shaftextending downward from the top of said well; Vadjusting means for drawing upward on the upper end of said shaft; walls defining an opening below the lower end of said shaft and closed by the lower end of said shaft when said shaft is in a lowermost position; meansy for buildingup a pressure in said opening whereby a flow through said opening is indicative that said lower end of l said liney shaft has been moved from closing Vrelationship with said opening; and means for indicatingrat the top of said wellwhen such a flow takes place.

' In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 14th day kof June,

JOHN A. WINTROATH.

a-column pipe for conducting the pumped 

